Jenny Peterson, Creator of “Jenny’s Dying to Live” blog, shared a post on Substack:
‘Don’t make your whole life about cancer, Jenny.’
That was the advice my oncologist gave me when I was first diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer back in 2012, and I took it to heart.
When I was first diagnosed, though, I found that difficult – it seemed like my every waking hour centered around cancer.
But over time I began to ease into a new way of being – I became very cognizant of my speech, for example. Not every conversation I had needed to be about how I was feeling, side effects, treatment, fears, etc.
Around the same time, I read that ‘what you feed, grows.’ So I became aware of my thoughts and how often cancer passed through my mind.
These days, my husband and I rarely talk about it, and he no longer goes with me to my monthly appointment and infusion. That’s by design, though – because I was re-diagnosed Stage 4 two years ago, treatment is ongoing for the rest of my life until I decide otherwise. So, it’s all become more commonplace in my life, not something that is a huge thing or an urgent matter.
It feels good now to just get up and live my life. Do normal, mundane things. Have normal, mundane thoughts and conversations.
To be a normal, mundane person rather than a cancer patient.”
Other articles about breast cancer on OncoDaily.